Friday evening I joined a few of my neighbors for a fish-fry and we had a good time. Josh, who helped me build the garden beds that I will talk about below, has a big fryer and did an excellent job -just like he always does!
Saturday I was up bright and early. The weather has been incredible in south Alabama for about 10 days or so, maybe longer. It's so tough for me to stay inside with such great weather.
I ended up going ahead and planting my carrots, cantaloupe, midget cucumber and regular sized cucumbers, beans, peas, and watermelon. Sure, we could possibly another slight freeze within the next month. -I'll pay for the consequences, and they will be cheap. About $5 worth of seed total for all that I've planted!
Additionally, I prepared the spot on the back property line where I will plant 4 rows of 20 Silver Queen corn! I'm super excited to test the waters on growing the corn. This variety is by far my favorite!
Not only did I plant veggies and these fruits but I also acquired a Navel orange tree, about 4' high, and also raspberry and blueberry bushes. These were planted on the south side of my house to keep them out of the cold north wind during our winters, plus they will all get absolute full sun. Also this gives me my own little grove of citrus and fruits there because I already had a Satsuma tree there.
And for good measure, I went ahead and planted about four daylilly plants in my front yard to give some color there. They are right at the base of my water oak that shades the yard very well.
OK, I'm not done yet! I've never covered up the fact that I love pine tree and pretty much any tree for that matter. -except crap myrtles. Well, I transplanted over a dozen longleaf pine seedlings to my backyard and put them in coffee containers for them to mature before putting them in the ground later this spring. Longleaf are about the slowest growing pine grown commercially for timber so these really won't be enjoyed by me at my house but whomever lives here a few decades from now.
Yah, I didn't stop there. While digging up the pine seedlings I also snagged about 5 small oak tree saplings. I placed them in containers and will plant them in the yard somewhere. Yah, I'm probably going to run out of space later this year for more plants!
My aunt Gale gave me some sunflower seeds and I will line the back yard with them to give some color. Also I'm going to add wildflower seeds in with these plantings and there will be plenty of color!
Here are some pictures of the raised garden beds. You can also see the pine seedlings in their containers.
The lumber that is up against the house will be used to build the stand for my rain barrel which I am going to move to the back of the house to use as irrigation for these beds. You can also see the dormant blueberry and raspberry bushes on the side of my house in the 3rd picture. They are between my gutter's downspout and the sewer tank thing that is a faded green.
Thanks to Brett Long for building the top "seat" for these beds. It really is so much better for me to sit down and work.
Well, just thought it was about time for an update on the happenings around the yard! Hope everyone is enjoying this great weather.
In His name,
-Matt
